widespread devastation. officials are expecting the death toll to rise in san bruno. good morning to you. welcome to mornings on 2 i'm dave clark. >> i'm tori campbell tori campbell. it's friday september 10th t sun is rising over san bruno and revealing for the first time the full extent of the devastation. officially three people are confirmed dead. but search crews are now going door to door looking for victims. we have live team coverage following last night's explosion.

we begin with claudine wong at the command center. >> reporter: good morning. we are at the command post, a few blocks from the fire center. you look behind me, see where firefighters and emergency crews are gathered this morning. this is considered a crime scene. this area on out. now that we have daylight we are getting a unique perspective of what this looks like. live above the view from our camera on our live truck it looks like we are having a little trouble getting the picture to you. we can see some smoke and some -- over the entire neighborhood where this is happening indicating this is not over yet. pictures are a huge improvement from the pictures we were looking at yesterday as the explosion raced through the area at 6:15, created inferno that destroyed the home.

emergency crews are trying to account for everyone. more than 50 homes dried. 100 err acefected -- destroyed and 100 others affected. logistically they are trying to get hundreds of firefighters where they need to be. there are several streets in the area that remain blocked off. today we are expecting investigators to be in here focusing on the gas main. they pge are ready to cooperate. people say there were signs days and weeks before indicating there was a problem. >> for the last three weeks i could smell the distinct smell coming from the gutter and sewer. pge telling me shut my garage, telling neighbors shut the garage they are investigating a gas smell. out there for a little bit, didn't let anybody know, took off and now the aftermath is this. which is ridiculous. >> reporter: the aftermath is

also a crater that's been left in the neighborhood indicating where this all took place and where the epi center of this huge explosion and fire was. we are getting breaking news in to our newsroom right now they are now telling us, there are reports that there is one more confirmed dead bringing the death toll up to four. we talked about the process of going through the neighborhood and seeing how many more victims there are. they found another victim. at this point, what we are doing is monitoring the situation out here. you are looking at a view of the smoke that rises. any time you see white smoke above an area, firefighters say that's a good thing better than black smoke indicating that the fire is getting going. we are expecting that they made progress on the fire fight. we look from above at the neighborhood in front of us where there is still smoke coming up from the large portion of the neighborhood. no visible flames from where we were able to look at.

no visible signs of damage. so we know the damage area is further from where we are. the latest out here is that they have confirmed one more dead bringing the toll to four in this fire. this is just beginning. we are checking a lot of updates. we will continue to follow that and bring you the latest information. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. many of the victims are at st. francis memorial hospital in san francisco now and ktvu. >> reporter: a spokesperson from st. francis memorial hospital in san francisco says a little later on this morning we will hear directly from the physicians and medical personnel that work in this hospital's burn center. they spent the entire evening and the overnight hours treating the critically injured burn victims from testimony explosion and fire. here at saint francis, there

are a total of four patients receiving care. three are in critical condition suffering from burn wounds one is in serious condition. the four patients that are here at st. francis started out at keizer south san francisco medical center last evening in the aftermath of the fire, a tote total of 15 people were brought. four had serious enough burn injuries so they were transferred to the burn center at st. francis. nine others treated and released. two patients receiving treatment at keizer medical center. several people were brought to san francisco general hospital. three of the patients are in critical condition with burn injuries, there was one that was listed in serious condition, however we spoke to a public information officer from sf general, she tells me that fourth person who was in serious condition their condition deteriorated, there are a total of 4 people in critical condition, suffering

from burn injuries. and that 5th person that was initially brought to the hospital has been treated and released. now officials at st. francis say sometime this morning they will have a press conference. we will hear from the nurses and physicians eating some of the burn victims here at the burn center. little later on this morning we expect to find out when that will happen. as soon as we get the update we will be sure to bring it to you. the red cross set up shelters for the many who had to evacuate from that fire scene, last night residents gathered a at the bay hill shopping center. look at these pictures. red cross provided food, water, blankets and a place for people to find each other. sam trance buses were brought in to get out of the cold as well. neighbors shared their stories. >> it melted the windows,

cracked the windows, double pane windows, i have the blinds in the front. i just grabbed the dog and we left. >> people have been nice in donating goods and some food and starbucks has been great to give us warm drinks and java juice and water. >> residents who were not affected brought supplies to the shopping center for their neighbors to help them out. the red cross says although they appreciate the outpouring of support they really can't handle anymore donations at this point. they are actually encouraging you to contribute financially to the relief effort. red cross is operating two shelters in san bruno. one at the veterans memorial recreation center, that is at 251 city parkway. the shelter has been stocked with food and supplies for evacuees. another red cross shelter is operating at the church of the

highlands located at 1900 monthray drive. evacuees will be given assistance to many the many difficulties they are facing. everyone who lives in the fire zone needs to check in so that officials won't waist time and effort looking for people who are safe. call this special hotline, set up for the purpose, the number is on the screen 650-616-7180. we have the number on our web site at ktvu.com. residents can sign in at one of the evacuation centers. stay with ktvu for the next two hours for continuing coverage on this devastating explosion and fire in san bruno, get updates by going to ktvu.com. we are expecting a lot of news conferences and updates. we will bring those to you live. schools are closed in san

bruno. sal castaneda is watching the commute. >> torey asked me earlier, i think she brings up a good point about the airport. the san francisco airport has not been affected by the smoke in the area. the flight patterns will not be affected. most planes come in over the san mateo bridge and take off towards oakland or the hill in daily city and don't over san bruno or they can be rerouted. flights are not affected. a map at san bruno, sky land bruno is technically opened. it's so crowded there are emergency vehicles in the area. 280 is open, some of the exit ramps even though they are technically open maybe very crowded. stay away from the areas. a lot of small aircraft because of the media outlets are above

those neighborhoods and it's getting rather crowded there that way. let's move along and look at the day bridge. toll plaza westbound backed fop ar five to ten minute delay. no major problems coming in to san francisco. the commute in the east bay has been pretty good. uneventful. 880 traffic looking good. we have patchy fog mainly on the coast. not too much inland. cool readings inland as well. low 40s. the wind at sfo tailed off considerably from last night when it was 20, 25 miles per hour. 8:00 last night 22. midnight down to 10. between 0 and 5 the last couple of hours. out of the west, knot -- northwest. 75 to 80%. the wind so far not much of a factor probably be l be later

on. fog is confined from point ray, pulls off a little bit and comes on san san mateo. inland areas will warm up. far inland mid-80s. overall 7:00, low 80s away from the coast. 60s closer to it. 8 degrees warmer than yesterday. look at is a noma. 46. gill ray 49. valetio and crocket 59. strong wind ejected out. a spin towards the pacific northwest. that's the pipe between the high and that system so we can't get too warm. the system moves out. cool air in place. down to the 40s for somement fog is there but it's going the stay on the coast. away from the coast it will be 4 to 8 degrees warmer by coast. patchy fog keeps temperatures in the 60s. little bit of a late breeze. fog increasing over the weekend. today, 6:00, 70s and 80s.

it is 7:11 we have a lot more coverage on this disaster in san bruno caused by the gas explosion last night including how officials are handling luting in the area and how many arrests have already been made. what the spt doing this morning pushes economic strategy.

you are looking at live pictures from chopper 2, just stop and look. at 7:14, this is over san bruno and this is what is left from that fire and explosion and as the camera pulls back you get a real feel for what it's like out there right now. incredible. this morning a search is going on for more victims of the deaf

stating explosion and fire in san bruno. we know four people are confirmed dead. dozens more are hurt. several people are not accounted for. at least 50 homes have been completely destroyed. this huge explosion rocked the whole neighborhood last night, sending up a huge wall of fire then the flames were whipped by the wind, and they jumped from home to home, near skyline boulevard and sneath lane. the fire raced out of control for several hours. we can tell you at this point the flames are only 50% contained. right now we are joined on the phone by jeff smith a spokesman with pge to update us on the situation. thank you for joining us. >> reporter: good morning. >> what can you tell us that pge is doing right now about this situation? >> reporter: pge crews will be walking the neighborhood with the fire department this morning to make sure it is safe

to restore power where possible. crews are pro actively surveying the gas transmission and distribution system to determine the extent of damage and begin restoration of repairs. >> can you tell tus extent of the power outage? >> reporter: approximately 700 customers without power in the area. that's without electric power. approximately 300 customers without gas service. >> sounds like there was a pretty massive break damage done to the gas pipeline, are you anticipating it's going to be quite a while before service can be restored. >> we will work with officials on the investigation. there are questions that need to be answered. i don't have specifics on that one for you. i will provide that information for you as soon as we have it. one thing i want to mention at the outset we seen the tragic footage and video that's coming out of san bruno and on behalf

of the 20,000 men and women of pge, our thoughts and prayer are with the family that have been affected by this terrible, terrible tragedy. we want to continue to work with the red cross to make sure their material needs are being met. our heart goes out with such devastation. >> we appreciate your words on that. here is a question about the gas piping in the area. we know that because of this situation you don't know how bad the gas pipe is in the neighborhood but there has to b we assume there is impact on the gas pipe in this surrounding areas as well. any comments on that. how old is the pipe in that area. >> that's one of the reasons why we are pro actively surveying to make sure it is safe. with respect to the other question that you asked with respect to how long the pipe had been there et cetera that's all part of the on going

investigation as you may know the national transportation safety board the federal agency responsible for investigating, they are expected to be on site today and ntsb will lead the overall investigation, the primary source of information of the investigation as it goes forward. we of course will cooperate fully with the ntsb, federal state and agencies looking in to the cause of this accident. >> when we talked this morning you alluded to you are looking a that from the human standpoint, the people who are hurt, the people who lost relatives, are pge employees on the ground there, interacting directly at the centers or talking to people, what are you doing from the human standpoint? >> reporter: from our standpoint, we are working with the first responders. we will absolutely be reaching out to those who have been

directly affected by this. it's important to us. there is not only as customers but with the devastation that's taken place. we absolutely will be having that human touch with them. we want to talk to them. for us it's -- this is a terrible tragedy and to the extent that we can help assist by helping with the material needs that need to be met that's absolutely something we will be doing. need to ask one more question, we heard from some residents who said they have been smelling gas in the area for several weeks they called and reported it and said pge crews were on the scene and left and then this happened. i know a lot of people are watching this and saying how do we know this can't happen in my neighborhood. >> we heard those reports in the media as well. that will absolutely be something that's looked in to as part of the on going investigation. >> we will continue to follow this throughout the day. we appreciate your time, we know you are extremely busy

jeff smith, spokesperson for pge. deputies say they arrested a man and a woman suspected of luting. deputies are standing guard in front of some of the homes affected by the fire and questioning people and checking id's to make u sure only to people who live there enter the area. our time is 7:19. another big story we are following for croud this morning is the economy -- you this morning is the economy. president obama will be trying to sell and defend his new economic strategy inwa w and expected to announce one of the key people he selected to get the job done. carol joins us now with the details of what to expect. >> reporter: president obama is trying to convince skeptical public he is being aggressive about the economy. i he unrolled a trio of new

proposals to jump start job growth, including a $50 billion plan for rebuilding america's roads, tax break for businesses that make big upgrades and reinstating taxes for the wealthiest americans. republicans say bad idemly with the economy stalling. here is what the white house had to say. >> i'm saying that we cannot afford $700 billion in tax cuts for millionaires. for billionaires, or multibillionaires. absolutely. >> this morning we are expected to hear that the president chose then man to be the chairman of council of economic advisors. roamer is heading home to teach at berkley. he would be one of the youngest chairman in history and an amateur comic and very well liked in the white house. the president speaks in 45 minutes. live in washington carol ha

u.n. the minister says he is reconsidering burning the koran. terry jones only agreed to cancel tomorrow's koran burning because he says he was told the planned sigh site for proposed mosque near ground zero would be moved but the florida muslim leader says he made no such agreement but did say he would try to facilitate a meeting with the mosque leader. there is negative reaction in the middle east to the koran burning controversy. in afghanistan there were several demonstrations the largest one was outside a nato base in the northeast part of the country. one person was killed in the protest. three others were injured. our time now 7:22 we have been talking about what is happening in san bruno and families all over will be affected in another way by the explosion and fire. how san bruno schools are reacting to the disaster. traffic is beginning to

slow down in the southeast bay right now as you drive on some of the freeways. we will tell you about some of the road closures affecting the san bruno area straight ahead.

live pictures of news chopper 2 over san bruno. there is nothing else to say but devastation from the gas explosion and fire in that area, this is what we are looking at now. that used to be someone's home. incredible pictures. we now know there will be no classes at any schools in the san bruno park school district. all 7 elementary schools, allen, bel air, crest moore, el ca stall, john mewer, pore tola and rolling should not go to school today. no students going to school today in that area. parkside intermediate school is closed. cappuccino high school which said it would be open, that

will also be closed today. no classes for any students in the san bruno park school district today. we spoke to pg&e there are extensive power outages, no gas service identityer in the area. the impact on traffic in this area and other traffic news, let's check in. people joining us not sure if 280 or 101 are are affected. there maybe slowing on 280, for the most part it's open. 101 is your best call. bay bridge toll plaza, westbound, getting a big back up, 10 minute delay in to san francisco. now today's weather with steve. inland sunny, warming up fast. after some rather chilly readings this morning. 40s and low 40s, parts of morein and the north bay.

sfo, things calmed down in the wind department dramatically since last night when it was 25 miles per hour. midnight 10. can you rememberly three. out of the west, northwest, humidity is up there. patchy low clouds as well, i am losing my voice. standby you two over there. inland temperatures in the 80s for some. 70s for others, 60s by the coast. look for the pattern to continue in to the weekend. just a short time ago the county coroner updated the gas explosion disaster in san bruno. the death toll is climbing and there are fears it could go higher. these are some of the people who have been evacuated from homes in san bruno last night. they are having breakfast served to them this morn big the red cross helping them out. we will tell you more about what the red cross is doing, stay tuned. droiiiid.

what this droid does will change how you do web connections. this creates a mobile 3g hotspot, powerful enough to fuel multiple devices at will. putting you at the center of your own world wide web. introducing the new droid x. the next generation of does. grim update from san bruno came within the past 30 minutes. 4 people are now confirmed dead in the disastrous explosion and fire. triggered by a broken gasline. dozens more are hurt. there are also concerns that those figures could climb much higher as the search goes now

from house to house in what is left of houses now that the sun is coming up, we learned the fire burned 10 square acres and right now it is just 50% contained. the initial explosion was at 6:15 last night. ground zero is at the intersection of sneath lane. parts of neighborhood are still smoldering which is hampering search and rescue efforts. claudine wong is giving us an update from san bruno. >> reporter: we are at the command post down the street from where the fire area is. you can see all the activity here, this is as close to the fire area as they are allowing us. you can see a lot of firefighters beyond the tree there dozens of fire trucks parked and ready to go. we seen backhoes move their way in. as they go down glenn view, the street you are looking at if you continue to go down, there you go down a sleep cliff on

the right that's where you find the crater where this began. we see white smoke rising from this neighborhood. an indication this is not over yet. a white smoke. a good sign. different from the smoke yesterday when the inferno raged through neighborhood. i talked to a gentlemen who says he remembers it like some of the people we talked to, house started shaking and he heard the explosions, he looked outside and saw what was an inferno. emergency crews are trying to account for everyone in the neighborhood. you have 50 homes destroyed. more than 100 homes affected. hundreds of people that need to be accounted for. they are trying to get hundreds of firefighters in and around this area. they have a command post. there are several streets in and around the area blocked off and investigators are expected in here. they will be focused on the gas

main that's the cause of this and we will talk to people who saw all of this happen. heard a big ole explosion. it was like the windows were vibrating real loud. >> the whole street is engulfed in flames it's ridiculous. >> the whole house started shaking. we heard a big explosion. boom. everyone ran outside. the whole block ran outside. we saw everything in fire. everyone ran across the street saying an airplane crash, airplane crash. no one knew what really happened. we hear everyone screaming and flames came out of nowhere. >> reporter: when you take a look at the crater that was a result of the explosion, you can understands why people thought it was maybe a plane crash or some kind of bigger type event because of so much

damage. i want to take you to a live look above from the camera that is above our live truck right now. so you can see the view of really what this looks like. the white smoke indicating this isn't over. we heard it was 50% contained. when you see white smoke that's a good sign, better than the black smoke you will see after a raging fire. if you go closer in to the neighborhood, we can really see a lot of homes that are still standing. most of the damage area is beneath the tree line from where we are right new. there are several streets in and around when all of these, that's where most of the devastation is. so again we are seeing out here white smoke indicating the firefighterring is ungoing. there are so many unknowns at this point. i talked to a gentlemen who came out here, he left his home last night not knowing if his home would be back here when he

returned. he used his camera on top of our live truck to see his neighborhood. his home is still standing. relief for a man who spent a long and sleepness night trying to figure out if there is anything he would come home to. he feels extremely lucky because he is okay. his family is okay. he know there is are other families who can't say the same thing this morning. as we told you the update is four people dead but the search among what is left of so many homes is still on going. that is the focus now as we said there is a press conference expected to begin, any minute. time now 7:35. 15 of the injured residents in the blast were taken to first to keizer medical center in south san francisco. only two stayed there overnight. the rest were evaluated and

treated and released or they were taken to another facility. keizer staff worked throughout the night trying to help the families affected by the explosion. >> we also mobilizeed the family care center to make sure that families who are looking for people and people who are in the emergency who are looking for family, that there is some way of people getting in touch with each other. >> four of the injured were transferred to saint francis memorial in san francisco to get treatment. we just heard from hospital spokeswoman who called with an update on the patients who were take therein last night. three -- last night. thra three of the victims are in critical condition. a fourth patient, suffering from smoke inhalation is listed in serious condition. a 5th patient was treated and released. we also found out four patients taken to san francisco general are all listed in critical

condition. the red cross set up shelters for the many people who had to leave their homes in the fire area. people gathered a the bay hill shopping center. the red cross provided food, water, blankets, and a place for payment to find each other. san trans buses were brought in for a place for people to get out of the cold. >> it melted and cracked the windows double pane windows, melted the blinds. i grabbed the dog and we left. >> people have been nice in donating goods. even some food. starbucks has been great enough to give us drinks. >> people who live in the area not affected by the fire brought supplies to the shopping center for neighbors. although red cross appreciates the support they cannot handle donations of items but always need financial contributions.

janajade hernandez joins us live with an update. >> reporter: i spoke to an evacuee who is 18 years old and spent the night at this american red cross shelter that is set up at the veterans memorial. i want to mention that this evacuee told us that the american red cross all volunteers got him through the night. he didn't know what to do. he was a house or two away from the explosion so very lucky thanking god that he and his brothers and grandmother got out of the house safely. this morning, let's get to the volunteers, the lions club is making breakfast for all those who are out here this morning. they are the only ones out here. spca is answering questions one might have about missing animals. only three dogs found and taken to the shelter. a dozen people slept here at

the veterans memorial rec center. we are located at 251 city parkway. six others are staig at a senior center a quarter of a mile away. i want to talk about volunteers, you are looking at the lions club. they decided to help out this morning. the american red cross has 12 volunteers out here. many more spontaneous volunteers are still out here this morning. these volunteers came down to help last night, are in no way affiliated with the red cross. they started arriving last night and immediately got to work. a lot of organizing has to be done in a situation, the food and clothes brought in by the community needed to be sorted. that's one of the reasons why at this hour the red cross is asking for monetary donations. log on and send money in care of the san bruno fire effort. women dropped off diapers and baby formula, one of the women

heard the loud explosion last night and as she watched the continuous coverage of what was going on she came down to donate. we also spoke to a man who heard the explosion and th took some action. >> we are a tight community. everybody knows each other and everybody went to school together and played sports together. when you see your neighbor's homes on fire and you know them you can pick out our friend's houses it's sad but it makes you want to come and help. >> reporter: antonio and his wife heard the rumble last night. he climbed on his roof to get a better look of where the smoke drifting in to the backyard was coming from. they brought coffee to the rec center this morning. there are 100 people who signed up for services. in a wake of a disaster the immediate items you need come to mind, clothing, shelter and food, with the daylight comes the next step.

contacting insurance agencies and getting assistance to move forward. that's what volunteers can help out with this morning and help out with those immediate things, breakfast first off. also i want to mention before i go, if you are looking for information about a loved one, you can log on to safe and well.org if you are looking for information, now there are other evacuees coming out of this rec center. we are going to talk to a few of them and bring that to you later on. jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. san bruno officials are stressing if you're a resident in the fire zone, make sure you check in with officials so you can be accounted for. call this special hotline here it is on our screen, it's area code 650-616-7180. that number by the way is also on our channel 2 web site, ktvu.com and you can also sign

in at one of the evacuation centers. make sure you stay here with us at ktvu channel 2 all morning listening for cunning coverage on this devastating explosion and fire in the city of san bruno and get updates by going to our channel 2 web site at ktvu.com. obviously this story is getting a lot of coverage here and around the country as well. it's one of the top national story as at the moment. we will continue to cover it throughout the day. let's check in with sal castaneda for a update on the commute. >> we have a situation where there was smoke coming up from a manhole on montgomery street near sutter. the fire department is on the scene. we do have a street closure in that area. it seems to be that the fire, the smoke stopped coming from underground. pg&e and fire crews are on the scene. there are street closures in the area. there will be some tie ups in

the f-line has been disruptd with the fire vehicles. this is very close to market street and there will be some tie ups in the area. let's look at the bay bridge. we are seeing a little bit of a back up now at the toll plaza of about ten minutes. this morning northbound 101, san francisco looks pretty good. no major problems coming up towards the 80 split and as a matter of fact traffic continues to move along okay on 101 down the the airport. these are pictures taken earlier of a train derailment in phon tana california. one train hit another stationary train near cherry af. this is close to the 10 freeway. the engineer of the train unfortunately had to have his arm amputated at the scene. however he is expected to survive. he was trapped inside the locomotive. there was no other way to get him out other than amputating

his arm. this is in san bernardino county. back to steve. we have fog on the coast. inland already sunny. looks like we are warming off the rather chilly morning lows. had 40s north bay, low 40s mo rine county. in to sanoma napa county. lows 45 degrees. sfo wind, far cry from anything last night. 25, 25 miles an hour winds. 22 at 8:00. midnight down to 10. currently be miles per hour. patchy low clouds. 58 degrees. humidity 72%. the wind nothing compared to what it was last night. it will pick up a little later. now it's rather calm. patchy fog. mainly coast. weekend nice to warm. fog on the increase though. next week cooler. there is a possibility no doubt about it this time of maybe rain by next friday and

saturday. forecast models are coming in to sync showing a more active pattern. patchy fog, sunny and warmer weather away from the coast. 60s there. 70s around the bay. some low to mid-80s inland. 54 san francisco. high of 68. that fog increasing leaves me a tad nervous. patchy fog north to south. not west to east. 45, santa rosa napa. oak land berkley 53. palo alto 50. stanford made to it 48. travel plans to truckkey, overnight lows because we had the system move in are now much colder. sacramento down to 51. that's cool. there little lows spinning and that's keeping the high from flexing its muscle. it's building in slowly. patchy fog, sunny and warm we are a late breeze. 60s by the coast. some of that fog mainly san francisco south, little around

point rays patchy fog on the coast. thickens up on the coastline. fog on the increase. inland it will be in the 80s. topping out saturday. cooler sunday. here comes your cooling trend next week. we want to let you know that the acting governor, lieutenant governor, is getting ready to hold a press conference, we will join that live when it begins. we have more on the devastation after a massive gas explosion in san bruno. including the top prior of city officials right now. plus how schools are impacted this morning. . a temporary spot for the state's budget. coming up.

these are live pictures from news chopper 2 of one of the areas where this massive gas explosion destroyed a number of homes. see fire crews on the scene. the fire is burning at this point. this is covering ten acres. this is just a small section of the devastation. at least 50 homes were destroyed. many others damaged. the death toll is at four, 20 others are injured. there are still plenty missing. we are continuing to follow this story and having some -- we are waiting for a press conference from the acting governor, abel maldonado. he should be speaking in a few minutes. when he does we will bring it to you. as we look at these

pictures torey, we should point out the fact that we know now federal agents are on the scene continuing the investigation. we know that throughout the area, the power is out for several hundred residents as well. we know that schools are closing as well. >> lieutenant governor abel maldonado has been on the scene since last night. he was out there overnight and early this morning. he was devastated by what we saw there. i gotten word that the pg&e president told ktvu, they don't know what caused this explosion. they don't know if work was being done in the area but a damaged section of a gas pipeline of pg&e has been isolated and the flow of gas has been turned off. we know that about 300 customers are without gas service. 700 are without power, without electricity and that there is obviously still a lot of work a lot of investigation that needs

to be done in order to figure out exactly what happened. we will stay on top of that. we will join the press conference in a moment when it does begin. in the meantime we know there will be no classes at any school, in the san bruno park school district today. students at all 7 elementary schools, allen, belle air, crestmoor, el crystal, john muir -- cappuccino is closed today. no classes for any sciewnts in students in the san bruno park school district. their top priority is to account for everyone who was forced out of the fire zone. >> it's a terrible tragedy. it's fallen on our city this afternoon. our main concern is public officials here, making sure our citizens are safe.

>> many residents went to evacuation centers but others are staying with family and friends. the city is urging everyone in the evacuation area to visit a evacuation center in person or call the check in hotline, 650- 616-7180. city officials scheduled an update for 8 this morning and we will carry that conference live. here a s a look at the other stories we are following. this morning trader on the floor of new york stock exchange observed a moment of silence. this is in advance of tomorrow's 9th anniversary of the september 11th attacks. official commemorations scheduled for tomorrow. president obama mans to be at the ceremony at the pentagon, vice president joe biden at the world trade center site in new york. first lady michelle obama and former first lady lora bush will mark the flight site of 93

in shanksville pennsylvania. good morning about cash crunch in california. the state controller says iou's will not be needed until october. he threatened to issue iou's by the middle of this month unless a budget deal was reached. california revenues were 3.9% higher in august than anticipated. these are live pictures of the lieutenant governor abel maldonado about to speak at a press conference. let's listen in. my name is matthew the secretary of the california emergency management agency. we are charged with coordinating the overall mutual response to these disasters. this has been an incredible tragedy and certainly inferno,

we have been working very hard with fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, the red cross, volunteers and members of the community and political leadership from the mayor and the folks i have behind me here. let me introduce some of them for you. we have with us today mayor jim, vice mayor rico ma dina, council member ken barera, council member irene oh connell, council member michael salazar, city manager connie jackson, police chief neil sellford, chief dennis from fire department, incident command leader, president chris johns from pg&e, we are joined today by senator lee land,

assembly member jerry hill who represents the district as well. of course one of my most important partners harold brooks from red cross who is always out there and doing a fantastic job. as we closely monitored and responded with state and local assets to the fire, abel maldonado our lieutenant governor who is our acting governor in the absence of governor schwarzenegger has been an important partner with this and leadership role after we had the local state of emergency declared we declared a state of emergency for the -- by the state, lieutenant governor and acting governor abel maldonado directed me to reach out and ask for a federal management assistance grant. last night our important fema partners, that they granted that which will help news the

operational costs. it's pleasure to introduce to you my friend and partner lieutenant governor, abel maldonado. >> good morning everybody. as you know governor schwarzenegger is in asia this morning. i talked to him about 25 minutes ago. i kept him on par with what is happening here in the city of san bruno. i asked him if he needed anything for me to say and he said to thank the men and women who are on the front lines helping the people of san bruno. so i'm here to do that. i want to thank mayor wayne, who when i came here late last night he was here, obviously with a sad face. our hearts go out to those impacted by this horrible disaster. without warning, many of these people's lives have been changed forever and deepest prayers go out to everyone. we know that a natural gas line

ruptured yesterday around 6:24 p.m. we don't know what caused it or what happened. we will find out soon. here is what we do know right now. the fire burned 15-acres in the city of san bruno. it is 75% contained. 38 structures have been destroyed. 7 structures have been damaged. we have had 52 patients, three critical burned folks that have gone to the hospital with third degree burns, four firefighters have been transported to the hospital, four people have been killed. we have one shelter at this moment open at the evacuation center with approximately 25 people as of this morning. i want to say what we did last

night. we deployed 67 pieces of fire apparatus including 21 local fire engines, 18 cal fire engines, 20 cal ema mutual aid engines, four air tankers, it was important they were deployed immediately. one helicopter, we deployed dozers and water tenders and this morning we have 12 canines on site. today we are deploying 30 more engines here to san bruno. california emergency management agency opened the operational center and the state operations center in sacramento last night. fema approved a fire management assisting grant that will help pay for the fire fight. the city of san bruno last evening proclaimed a local emergency and right after the

city proclaimed a local emergency, i with extraordinary impact of this disaster declared the state of emergency last evening for those affected by opening the door to pay for firefighting and recovery. i also want to thank the local volunteers, the red cross and everybody who has been here to help. i want to say a few words briefly in spanish on what we do know right now. [foreign speaking] thank you very much to everybody that's been here as i stated last night, mayor wayne and i were here early in the morning and late evening and

i'm here to welcome him to the podium to give us a few words on behalf of the people of san bruno, mr. mayor? >> thank you very much lieutenant governor. this is very difficult for the city of san bruno. the sun is shining over there but there is a dark cloud over the city. you heard the numbers unfortunately the numbers are going to get higher. know that as the day progresss. i have to thank the men and women who have been trained for this and unfortunately had to execute training all the fist responders who were extraordinary yesterday afternoon. just extraordinary. on behalf of the entire city council i want to tell you that you heard the numbers, but what we have to deal with in the near future is the stress the anxiety, the uncertainness, in the minds of the people that are directly affected. those that lost their homes

completely lost homes and those out of homes and residences for many months to come. we are prepared to do that, deal with it all, we are working on it as of yesterday afternoon and we will continue. thank you very much. i would like to introduce to you our city manager connie jackson. >> thank you for being here today. the mayor said there is a dark cloud over san bruno. unfortunately that's true. san bruno is not only a wonderful community, it is a strong and resilient community. we are proud to live here and we will be proud to respond and to restore the vitality and the safety that san bruno is known for. the damage that has been experienced in the glenn view

area of our community is particularly on the following streets. we would like residents to know this information in order that they can be prepared to pay attention during the coming hours as we begin to identify areas where people can return. damages most serious on the 16 and 1700 block of claremont. the 900 block of glenn view. 1700 block of earl. 1100 block of fairmont. and the 2700 block of concord. earlier this morning our public safety personnel opened a formerly evacuated area, an area that was remained evacuated all night generally described as the area east of

crestmoor, and continuing eastward. so that is a significant segment of the area impacted that is now safe for residents to return. our city organization will be working continuously as we worked through the night in to this morning to secure the needs resources that our residents will need. we are in the process right now of establishing a local assistance center, that will be established within the next day at our veterans memorial recreation center adjacent to crystal springs road in city park. we are still asking those individual whose have been evacuated from the heavily impacted area to check in with us at the recreation center to begin the process of assuring the accountability and identification of all those individuals and securing their safety. thank you.

at this time i am going to introduce police chief neil tellford. >> our law enforcement efforts have been to secure that scene to ensure property to make sure we intensify on rescue efforts and make sure those residents stay safe. our efforts will continue to provide security, safety in that area to provide perimeter control to that affected area, and again to assist fire with search and rescue operations as well. at this point i would turn it over to chief dennis hague. >> good morning. the lieutenant governor gave you most of the details on the fire. i was especially proud, the california mutual aide system and an mateo automatic aide

system we made terrific effort in stopping the fire to where we did . obviously we always want to do better. but it was a great joint effort between cal fire, oes, state ems, cal ema, all the agencies came together in spectacular fashion. as devastating as this was, it could have been so much worse in my opinion. we did have four firefighter injuries, they were all minor and they have been released from the hospital. at this time i will turn it over to you. >> i would like to have harold brooks from the american red cross come up and provide you with the information about sheltering and helping our volunteers and blood donations. harold? >> wow, first of all i would like to say thanks to the many, many, red cross and other community based organizations

that were out here working with people to alleviate suffering throughout the night. we have heroic volunteers who do this in a selfish sort of a way. we have wonderful partners and the firefighters and pg&e, who we will be partnering with to make sure that people are taken care of. as it turns out many of the folks in the community didn't need sheltering overnight. there were maybe a dozen folks, we had evacuation centers and shelters available so that people could get the kind of comfort and care that they needed in this very tragic moment when they lost everything. please know that red cross and the community based organizations will be in place to see to it that people are well cared for. we will be working in collaboration with flood centers of the pacific and red cross blood program to make sure the blood supply is going to be sufficient for those who need it. thank you very much. >> thank you harold. we are also joined today by our

friend congressman and women jackie spears, who is here cospeak with us next. >> good morning. i want to commend the city of san bruno t firefighters, all law enforcement who have done extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances to bring this fire to a conclusion and to help those in need. fema has not yet been engaged to provide for a national sate of emergency. we are seeking that designation upon receiving that designation the residents who are impacted are going to be benefiting from an array of services, not to the least of which is housing, medical care, small business loans, i will be setting up a district office at the evacuation center, so that local residents will be able to access our office and have

questions answered immediately. we will also assist in filing claims for insurance and i'm calling upon all of the state insurance companies to create desks at the evacuation site so they can begin that process as well. this is an extraordinary community. it's very tight knit. generations of families lived here for, forever. we will all come together, we will restore these homes and the lives of all of these people and we will once again see san bruno thriving, thank you. >> thank you. senator leeland who represents san bruno. >> thank you very much. first off let me thank my former colleague, lieutenant governor abel maldonado, for his quick action along with the governor, the fact that we were able to call this issue and this incident state of

emergency open up an array of assets t the state level to deal with this. someone who has lived through the oakland hill fire, one of the things that i remember and i know very very deeply is the fact that you got to act and act quickly. that's what we did. now that there is daylight, there is going to be even i think more heartache and difficult times ahead, individuals are going back and really seeing the devastation of this particular fire, we are committed to doing whatever we can to help this city and this county to rebound. as i think congresswoman jackie spear mentioned this is a rather tight knit community but it is a large community. there are victims who have suffered a tremendously who are now in burn centers in san francisco. there are individuals who are no longer living in their

homes, living with friends or relatives in daily city and pacifica. at the service center there were 30 individuals there. there are still many many individuals, many friends and relatives and strangers who came to the center and had all kinds of supplies and all kinds of donations and i will tell you it was rather gut wrenching to me that these strangers and these individuals would come out in the middle of the night and bringing all kinds of different equipment and materials supplies to help their fellow neighbors and so in the months and the years to come, there are going to still be a lot of needs and i know this community, state and locals here will continue to work together, all of us will work together to try to do whatever we can to bring back

some sanity in these individuals lives. >> thank you senatorment we also have us today jerry hill who represents san bruno. >> thank you, mat. thank you to the lieutenant governor, abel maldonado, for being here and to the gfer for his support in this. it's interesting in looking a at the response last evening, and the resources that were used when the city of san bruno came together with their leadership and the fight they had and came together and brought the county and response with mutual aide and call ema who did outstanding job of responding and the responses they brought forward this community came together from a public safety stand point and coming together now for a personal stand point as we go through the recovery and pick up the lives of those who have been devastateed by the loss, this is a unique community. it's a family. it's one family that really works hard to maintain its

quality of life. that character has been hit hard and painfully last evening and today. as the search goes on it's going to be more painful, it's going to be more deaf stating- - more deaf stating. we have to come together as we saw today the the community came together. the blood banks are are overwhelmed with people willing to give life blood to community and neighbors. where she a lot to be thankful for, we are thankful for the great response of public safety and thankful for the state and talking with the lieutenant governor a few minutes ago, outlined the state resources for individuals that become homeless and individuals displaced will be starting today. that's what we need and appreciate. it has been a tough struggle. this city will rise again through this and it will be stronger than ever. >> thank you, jerry. finally, from pacific gas and

electric, the president, chris johns. >> thank you. obviously our hearts and prayers go out to all the familys and friends and neighbors that have been impacted by this tragic event. i said our hearts and prayers go out to all the friends and neighbors and families that have been impacted by this tragic event. we do appreciate all of the hard work by the hundreds of first responders, and emergency officials that responded very quickly, got on site, worked diligently last night and throughout the night and did a tremendous job. we also have been working very closely since last night, with the red cross, trying to help and make sure that there are adequate supplies and shelter for those folks in need. in fact we've dedicated to red

cross to make sure there is funding to make sure we will be able to provide shelter and resources for anybody in need. we continue to work throughout the night to make sure that the area was safe. we worked with the emergency officials to secure the area, secure the gas lines and the electricity. we yet to be able to get close enough to the actual source to be able to determine exactly why this happened but we are working diligently to do that. we have been told that the national transportation safety board will be leading an investigation and we are committed to working with them as quickly as possible to get the answers that i know all of is want to get to and -- all of us want to get to and understand. i want to make sure everybody knows we are committed to do what is right and what is appropriate to help all of the

families and others who have been impacted by this tragedy. a couple of things that i do know, we have secured the transmission line, so that there is no longer gas flowing through that line. we also secured the local distribution lines, so that there is no gas flowing in those lines where she teams out today we had over 40 people working last night and we will have them out today to survey the integrity of the lines in that area to continue to make sure that it is safe. as of 6:00 this morning, we had approximately 700 electric customers who were still out of service and about 300 gas customers who were out of service, we anticipate getting 300 electric customers back on by noon today. the thing we are doing is because of the concern for safety, we are having to walk block by block, house by house in that area to make sure it is safe to go in and reestablish

that service, so we are trying to do that as quickly as we possibly can. i will mention also that i have heard news acoups about customers reporting that pg&e, to pg&e they smelled gas in the area previously. right now we haven't got confirmation about that but we have records we are going back right this minute to try to confirm what exactly those phone calls looked like and when they occurred and we will report back as soon as we know something. let me close by saying again, that we are really sad ped and sorry about this tragedy. we are going to do everything we can to help the folks that have been affected by this. we appreciate the hard work that everybody has put in to it. including these folks today. >> is there speculation on what might have caused it at this point? >> unfortunately we have not been able to get close enough

yet to get a good look in and see what it might be. it's hard to speculate what might have caused it. >> (inaudible question.) >> because the reason that we haven't been able to get in there yet close enough is because the source is still -- has been unstable through the the night. we had to make sure it was safe for anybody to get in there. we have been working closely with the fire officials here to clear the area make sure it's safe before we could get in and take a look at the area. (inaudible question.) >> i don't knowwa time the gas was turned off. i know it was probably a couple of hours later but i don't know the exact time. we can get that for you. >> (inaudible question.) seems

to be disparity in terms of the number of homes destroyed. (inaudible question.) loath governor said 38 destroyed, 7 damaged. >> 38 is a accurate number, we did that by a flyover on initial estimation. we did a walk through early this morning to verify the 38 and 7. >> how do you go from 120 to 7? >> well, we didn't not include in the secondary survey any type of damage they went through and just did it from the air. if they saw damage at all they reported that and counted it from the air. we weapon through by foot and surveyed every home and

property. there were 38 homes destroyed. 7 had significant damage. obviously there is other homes damage, paint, siding, roof that we didn't include. >> (inaudible question.) >> at this time no we don't. we are trying the match up with our registration through the addresses. >> (inaudible question.) [overlapping speakers] (inaudible question.) >> we are working diligently to get as many people back in home as possible. >> (inaudible question.) fully understand. as soon as we can clear as many houses possible we will be notifying. >> how will they be notified? >> we don't know where to go. >> report back to the shelters on clearances that we have. we will be happy to do that.

>> (inaudible question.) unfortunately as the chief said we will not know for some hours to come what houses have been damaged and to what extent, that information will be available through the local assistants center up and running at 10:00 a.m. at the san bruno city park, veterans memorial recreation center. we will not have the information on specific homeowner properties at that time. but the information will be available through the local assistants center as soon as the public safety personnel have verified. >> (inaudible question.). >> the area has been completely secure. it is a investigation area, it is being monitored and patrolled by public safety personnel. the chief can give you better

information. >> we had officers throughout the night and as we speak now we will continue to do so foras long as it takes. >> (inaudible question.). the gas line that has the rupture in it is a 30-inch gas pipe, and sit generally going to be somewhere between 2.5 to 3 feet deep. we are not aware of any of our crews being, doing any work in that area, but we do not currently know whether there was other construction in that area. we don't have reports of any.

>> (inaudible question.) >> i don't know exactly how old that line is. i believe it is probably -- could be around 40 or 50 years old. i need to go back to the records to confirm. >> (inaudible question.). again, we haven't been able to get close enough to tell. but we do make sure that as we look at the pressure on the lines we make sure we got large amount of room from a safety perspective so that there will be fluctuations in the pressure in any pipe but we always make sure at the highest level there is a tremendous amount of room for safety purposes that's in accordance with the laws and regulations we have to follow. >> (inaudible question.). >> on that pipe specifically we

are going back to validate but we weren't aware of anything readily on the pipe. >> (inaudible question.) >> our procedures and processes are if somebody calls in and says there is a smell of gas we immediately try to respond and get out. so again, i know that there has been news reports of folks that had -- that reports of people called in we are trying to confirm that and looking through our records to see that. >> (inaudible.) unfortunately there is a lot of different ways to speculate as to what could have caused it. we are trying to find that out and trying to get in so we can get evidence to give us insigh on that. i know that's frustrating for people. it's frustrating for us. we are trying to get in there as close as we can.

we are looking forward, ntsb is supposed to be here this morning and we are looking forward to getting that information with them as quickly as possible. >> we didn't hear you. >> (inaudible question.) >> until we know what caused this rupture and what caused it, we want to take every precaution and preserve every evidentiary precaution at the scene. >> (inaudible question.). >> we have not heard of any looting. that was part of the briefing this morning. we have law enforcement out there. they will do the investigation

and that's why they will be out there. (inaudible question.) >> describe what you saw during the your walk through at the fire at the incident. >> at the incident it was pretty devastating. in my career compares to oak land fire, it looks like a -- the crews made a fantastic stop. >> when will the fire be completely out. >> 75%. what we have right now is really hot spots we are trying to contain and a wild land fire containment we want to make sure we mopped up well as it approaches the canyon. >> what's the extent of the injuries to the firefighters. >> all four firefighters

experienced smoke inhalation at the beginning of the fire, they were transported to local hospitals and released two hours later. >> it was very difficult to approach. it was that hot. flames were probably 70, 80 feet. we really couldn't be successful in putting out the fire without it being shut down. (inaudible question.) >> we certainly responded on a second alarm assignment on the nature of the call, it was immediately -- it went to a

4th alarm five minutes in to it and a 6th alarm. >> did you have problems with water? >> we believe a water main was damaged in the explosion. we have a sewer problem we are trying to repair as soon as possible. thank you very much all for coming. this will conclude the press conference. >> thank you. we are wrapping up a press conference going on for over half an hour including lieutenant governor, abel maldonado who gave us new information, updated numbers for us. 15 acres burned following this gas explosion. and 75% of the fire is contained. there are a few hot spots.

38 structures completely destroyed. 7 with significant damage. four people killed at this point. they say the number may go higher. 52 patients injured including four firefighters who suffered smoke inhalation but released after two hours from the hospital. again some more information coming in just now. >> we also heard from pg&e, we will talk about their remarks but on the ground we got to go to claudine wong who is on ground zero at the command center as we say good morning and welcome back. what is the latest from where you are now? >> reporter: we have seen a lot of oh activity in and around here, you can tell the fire fight continuing, with 75% containment. we also been seeing a lot of the residents. you heard people talking about the people behind the diaster. the residents whose homes are affected by this. i what happened to take you to news chopper 2 to show you the damage. these are the pictures that people have been seeing.

see the crater caused by the explosion that so many people felt and see the damage that the fire and ensuing inforeno created. talk about the 38 homes when you see all the damage from it. it's very very dramatic. i talked to a man who came here to see if his house was standing. he was four houses away from the explosion. he was in the garage and heard the boom and ran out and said the heat was so intense he felt hike he was being burned. the descriptions this morning are incredible. the rumble before the boom described to a 747 coming down on top of you. then the intense heat. 53 homes are destroyed. i'm sorry the number updated to 38 structures destroyed. 7 damaged. and we know the fire fight is continuing with four dead. with the families affected and the victims out you can only imagine the emotional turmoil the victims are in. >> i'm in awe.

i'm an emotional wreck. if i don't have a house, that's -- (inaudible.) just how squared we were. what we are going to go through now is pretty bad. my daughter slept on the bathroom floor at my mother. hose. mother's house. >> he is angry when he hears there is a report that pg&e knew there was a problem. he says someone needs to answer this and find out whose fault it is. the crater that exists, pg&e saying they haven't been able the get in there to really investigate the source of all of this because it was so unstable overnight. if you come out here live and see the situation you know we have a long day and long

several days in front of uses they figure out where to go from here after the fire fight is over. once they get the fire out they have a lot of investigating to do. the numbers changed a lot. from over 50 structures to 38 structures. they gone through really the house by house on the ground going through there to really exam each place. we know they are looking for any possible more victims that could be in there. there are 12 canines on site here. the canines aiding in the search as they search for more answers. if you look by the police tape that is down there, that's where the residents are going and literally we seen them begging the police officers down there, please let us in, please so we can find out if our house is okay. they all describe these very long and emotional nights as they left here to the flames and the horrible pictures and

running in absolute fear and panic spending night in a hotel or relative's house they didn't sleep all night wondering if there would be anything to come back to, a lot still don't know. you talk about the secure crime scene and keeping everyone out they are trying to address the concerns of the residents but it's early in the morning the fire fight is still on going. claudine wong. many of the victims are at sane francis memorial hospital in san francisco. >> reporter: at a press conference that wrapped up a short time ago, abel maldonado went over some of numbers he says 52 people have been injured by the gas line explosion and fire in san bruno. four of them were firefighters trying to tackle the fire. hof he also said that three people are in critical condition that conflicts with some of the information we gathered this morning. we spent the entire morning talk with public nstles

officers at various san francisco hospitals. according to our calculation there is are at least 7 people still in critical condition at two san francisco hospitals. some of the most seriously injured burn and smoke inhalation victims are treated here at st. francis memorial hospital in san francisco. four patients receiving care. this hospital has a specialized burn center. three of the four are in critical condition. one is in serious condition. all of those patients were injured in last night's gas line explosion and fire in san bruno, when the hospital learned about the disaster it was all hands on deck. >> the staff were ramped up. the burn surgeons came in. we had aint flux of staff willing to helpm we set up the burn unit for the patients arriving. it was very controlled. the scene was very calm. >> reporter: the four patients at st. francis were transferred to this hospital this morning

came from keizer south, that's where many people were brought in the aftermath of the fire. a total of 15 people brought to keizer in south san francisco. of that 15, four as we mentioned were transferred to st. francis' burn center, nine treated and released. two receiving treatment at keizer. five patients were taken to san francisco general hospital. four are in critical condition there. one was treated and released. that puts us at total of 7 people still in critical condition at the two san francisco hospitals. still recovering from the smoke unhalllation and burn injuries -- inhalation and burn injuries they suffered from in last night's fire. later this morning, st. francis plans to have a press conference where we will hear directly from the physicians and the emergency room personnel that continue to treat the victims of last night's fire in san bruno.

time is now 8:34, san bruno officials are stressing now if you live in the fire zone area, check in so you can be accounted for so they know that you are alive and well. they are recommending calling this special hotline, set up just for the purpose. the number is 651-616-7180. that numb is on the channel 2 web site. ktvu.com. by the way residents can also sign in at one of the evacuation centers so they know you are alive and well. some of victims are already getting help from the red cross. jade hernandez is at the main shelter which is set up at the san bruno veterans center what is happening there? >> reporter: the evacuees fit in to several different categorys those residents who stayed last night. others coming back this morning for help. assistance of any kind. we spoke to both evacuees this

morning. it's really hard to fathom what they have been through, listen. >> i thought the world was coming to an end. it's that devastating. big as far up as you can see flames. flames. it weapon from one place to another. one lot to another. i'm thankful for god giving our family a second chance to live. i'm thankful for my grandma making it out of the house on time. >> reporter: the san bruno club is providing breakfast for evacuees not the only ones out here. a dozen people slept at the veterans memorial rec center. live at 25 city parkway, those are the pictures, six others staying a quarter of the mile down the road. the american red cross has volunteers a dozen, many more spontaneous volunteers are out here, those volunteers came down to help.

they are in no way affiliated with the red cross, they arrived last night and sorted food and clothes being brought in by the community, at this point red cross is asking for monetary donations send money in care of the san bruno fire effort. the red cross is not set up to take as many items being dropped off last night or this morning. monetary donations will help the most. there are 100 people who signed up for services for the red cross at this point. we have video of the inside of the sign up center, you are looking at the sign up desk. hopefully we can get the video for you. the woman you heard from earlier stayed with her son last night but came back this morning. for more information about insurance and medications the american red cross is asking evacuees to sign up to safe and well.org. this allows loved ones and friends to check on anyone who might have been affected by the explosion and fire last night.

also the sign up center is right here at the rec center, there is a big sign people can come independent check in, check to make sure what the american red cross can do for them. a lot of donations being brought here, they will continue to do so for the rest of the day. reporting live in san bruno, jade hernandez. ktvu channel 2 news. we wanted to take you back live to san bruno where lieutenant governor abel maldonado just held a press conference. there he is right now. good morning and thank you for joining us. can you tell us what have you learned so far about the situation, what are the next steps for you to do today? >> reporter: [technical difficulties] >> we don't have audio. unfortunately we are not able to hear the lieutenant governor and acting governor so we will try and rectify that situation

as soon as we can to get the latest information from him. there is a awful lot to talk about. think we are trying to get that fixed right now. he was speaking earlier about the situation. we will try to get him again. sal is watching our commute and what is happening in the general area now. >> one of the things that struck me is there is a lot of informationm. sometimes it conflicts. we need to remind you, if you don't have business in that area, police are asking you to stay away from the area. 280, 101, 380 are open and the traffic is moving pretty well. if you just drive on the peninsula, this will no affect you. flights have not been affected by this. you don't have to worry about that. stay out of the neighborhood unless you have an official reason for being there. let's move along and look at the live picture of the bay

bridge. it's a moderate delay. no major problems coming in to san francisco. this morning for you are driving on san francisco freeways, northbound 101 traffic approaches the 80 split. back to steve. we have clear skies except on the coast where the fog is going north to south. inland temperatures warming up. chilly this morning though. mid-40s, low 80s marin county. 22, 25 last night. 10 at midnight. it's calm. out of the west, northwest. some of the smoke might be drifting. with the whip dying down, the humidity up around 72s 75%. the wind will pick up a little later. things calmed down tremendously compared to last night. we had the west wind 25 miles per hour. ma rine, sanoma coast more on the san mateo coast.

82 santa rosa. 68 in the city. 84 walnut creek. 76 yesterday. downtown oakland 74. starting to warm up. 54 to 57. 58 oakland berkley. palo alto 5. stanford made it to 45. 35 tahoe. 46 eureka. one little spin in the atmosphere, visit seattle in portland, temperatures will warm up a little bit more tomorrow. mainly just about near seasonal averages. patchy fog coast. 80s through the interior. 60s to 76 santa cruz. fog on the increase over the next couple of days. inland areas coming up a little bit on saturday. coming down slightly on sunday. looks like a cooling trend next week. going back to lieutenant

governor abel maldonado. thank you for hanging in with us. you are in san bruno, you've been talking and bringing us up to date on everything. you are on the ground. you see this with your eyes. how has this impacted you. what are you saying to the families. >> what i'm saying to the family is that the state of california the city of san bruno and everybody is coming together to support and help and to come to the incident command center at the local community the to give you idea of where you need to go for emergencies. i can say to you all dave and torey i toured the incident last night, i never seen anything like this. you have a 30-inch diameter gas pipe in the middle of a road in the middle of a neighborhood that has exploded. just debris everywhere. all i can say is that last night i was in communication with mayor of san bruno, we called the state of emergency. everything is on par to move

the city forward. >> i need to ask this, with the state budget crisis, is there money available to provide assistance. want to assure the people of san bruno and people of bay area and california, while we don't have a state budget, this will not be affected. last night we flew in four aircraft immediately and put in five strike teams, 40 engines, we put everything in to the incident the budget is nothing to do with what is happening here. i want to make sure i assure the people of bay area and san bruno that california is here, we put everything and i've been in contact with governor schwarzenegger letting him know what is happening on the ground. >> at your news conference a few minutes ago you were standing alongside the head of pg&e. we know it was a gas line that caused this in some way, were you satisfied with his response that they will do everything that is right and appropriate,

what was your reaction as you were listening to the head of pg&e? >> obviously he came out and explained what happened. we are going to make sure immediately i what happened to get to the bottom of what happened, how it happened, but most importantly how do we prevent this fromming again. if there is a 30-inch pipeline going through san bruno i'm sure there are throughout the state of california we need to make sure this doesn't happen again. we got independent organization doing a whole investigation and we will get to the bottom of this to see what happens. >> if it could happen in san bruno it could happen anywhere. even in my neighborhood. what is your next step, what are you going to be doing today? plan on going to the sheller, i might go to the hospital to see folks that have been injured. be on the ground here making sure everything is in place. cal fire staff has been wonderful. san bruno mayor has been wonderful. it's sad to say this but we go through a lot of fires in

california so we are prepared. that's the good thing we have great training but i've been to a lot of fires and never seeing anything like what's happened here. as you are looking around, just generally looking around, over your shoulder, it's 75% contained. do you feel like this is close to being under control in a layman's standpoint. >> it is. i think i'm comfortable that it's under control. right now we are treating it as a crime scene. we don't want looting or people out. there i can say we are going out there to try to assess what happened. we have 12 canine dogs helping us go through the whole incident area. we got our work cut out. everybody is coming together. everybody was dispatched this morning. we had a great meeting. everybody is on the same page. i'm happy to report that every resource that this community needs from the state of california will be here. >> there seems to have been a

very encouraging response but not just from the officials but from residents as well. one more quick question, we have gotten conflicting reports on the death toll, we have four but we are also hearing six. can you give us specific details on that number? >> i can tell you that four people have been kill here if san bruno. the numbers can change. i hope they don't. but there is no secret. these numbers will be changing. the number of houses that have been hurt will change. what is most important here is we cup to do our work forward. right now four people have been killed at this incident in san bruno. >> thank you for taking the time to talk to us live. we appreciate it, we know you got a lot to do but we thank you very much for beak here. >> thank you very much. >> make sure you stay right here with ktvu channel 2 for the continuing coverage. get more up days by going the our channel 2 web site,

ktvu.com. yet another big story we are following, the economy at the white house right now president obama is pushing his strategy for fixing the u.s. economy he is introducing a new member of his economic team. carol is live in the bureau with the latest on what the president is saying. >> reporter: let me take you live inside the white house, where president obama is addressing the media on battle plan for the economy. he rolled a trio of new proposals to jump start job growth including a $50 billion plan for rebuilding america's roads, a tax break for businesses that make big upgrades and cutting taxes for all but the wealthiest americans. republicans are in an up roar over more spending and tabss, here is how the president's defending his plan to voters. we came in to office with a

different view about how your economy could shork, instead of tax cuts for millionaires we cut taxes for middle class familys and business owners. the president is announcing this man will be the chairman of counseled economic advisors at 41 he would be the youngest chairman, one of the youngest chairman in history, he is an amateur comic and very well liked at the white house. it is 8:48. florida minister who threatened to burn korans and said he wouldn't, now says he is reconsidering again. the reverend terry jones agreed to cancel tomorrow's koran burning because he says he was told the planned site for a proposed mosque near ground zero would be moved but the

muslim leader jones spoke with said he made to such agreement but would try to facilitate a meeting with the mosque leader. reaction to the burning controversy, in afghanistan there were several demonstrations the largest one was outside a nato base in the northeast part of the country. there are reports that at least one person was killed in the protest and 3 others were injured. we are hearing more apout the release tomorrow of sarah shourd, one of the three graduates in prisonnenned in iran. her mother who lives in oakland is on her way to meet her daughter. this morning officials said it was president ahmadinejad ensured her release. it's a act of clemency coinciding with ramadan. traders on the floor of new

york stock exchange observed a moment of silence in advance of tomorrow's 9th anniversary of the september 11th attacks. commemorations are set for tomorrow, president obama will be at a ceremony at the pentagon, vice president joe biden at the world trade center site in new york and first lady michelle obama and former first lady laura bush marked the day at the crash site of flight 93 in shanksville pennsylvania. 8:50 is the time. stay with us for continuing coverage as we have more on the explosion and the aftermath in san bruno. these are live pictures right now. some of the trucks on the scene around 200 firefighters stayed on the scene last night. the blast took out the entire water sis them in the area. they had to pump water for two miles to deal with the fire and explosion. more on that plus traffic and weather when we come back.

welcome back. we spoke to the lieutenant governor abel maldonado, who is the acting governor right now about the disaster in san bruno as we look at the live pictures and see the fire trucks move through the neighborhood, we know now that four people are confirmed dead from last night's explosion and fire. dozens more hurt. people are not accounted for yet. there are concerning those

numbers could go much higher once they start walking through there now. at least 38 homes have been completely destroyed. the fire has burned 15 acres, it's now 75% contained and getting higher. people living for the san bruno neighborhood are describing the scene that they will never forget. >> it's very devastating to see your neighbors that have been here for many years, it's a good neighborhood and good people. and in a flash that things turn upside down. >> the crews out there and look at that crate their was caused the crews will go door to door searching for people who are still unaccounted for. we have new updates now on the neighborhoods evacuated because of the fire. most serious on 16 and 1700 blocks of claremont, the 9900 block of glenn view. the 1700 block of earl. 2700 block of concord.

and the 1100 block of fairmont. people are being asked to stay away from those locations what is now considered safe is the area east of crestmoor. people evacuateed from the neighborhood are told they can return home. 700 people in the areas are still without power but 300 should be back on by noon. officials were stressing if you live in the fire zone, you need to check in. they are eke mending calling a special -- recommending calling a special at line number. 650-616-7180. it's there on your screen. you can also sign in at one of the evacuation centers, we have that information on our channel 2 web site. ktvu.com many people are shooting their own video of the fire and posting those images on

youtube. this was shot by a san bruno resident, john ca pelllo, he took the video from skyline and posted it at 8:30 last night. you can send video to ktvu news. on twitter, this woman expressed surprise and sympathy. she said the fire was in insane, my heart goes out to the victims and those affected. >> it's what is disturbing about ruptured gas main is closeness to san andres fault. the giants tweeted condolences saying take a moment to send thoughts and prayers to those affected and emergency workers responding to the fire. >> a lot of people. our time is 8:56. let's see about the commute in the area and around the bay area. in a situation like that we

have so much information from twitter and facebook and ktvu.com. i must have had 200 tweets myself from people sending information so we appreciate it we check them out and try to be accurate. try not to post rumors, we try to confirm things that's why it may seem like we are slow. we have to confirm stuff. 280 heavy traffic approaching 380 but the freeway is open past the san bruno area. so is 101 and 380. 880 north and southbound as you pass the colosseum. the traffic is busy. at the toll plaza, this morning we have back up of about 10 to 15 minutes trying to get in to san francisco. here is steve. some fog mainly parallel to the coast. some touching it but not too much made an inland push. 60s by the coast. 70s santa cruz.

cooling trend is sunday on the coast and for everybody mon and tuesday. the lack of wind helped them. >> it's calm right now. 25 last night miles per hour. out of the west but calm. lit pick up a little bit later today. that will do it for us. we will show you more images from the explosion and aftermath. stay with ktvu.com for the latest information. 0!ockñ?çóxo?ñ=çñññçvxqx?ñññ?óiy